Steven Moffat Talks Jodie Whittaker’s 13th Doctor

July 24, 2017

This Christmas special marks Peter Capaldi’s last appearance as the 12th Doctor, but also marks the last for showrunner Steven Moffat, who has been involved with the BBC series since season 5. Now Moffat is passing the torch to Broadchurch‘s Chris Chibnall, which will launch season 11 in 2018 with Jodie Whittaker set to play the 13th Doctor.

Moffat spoke to Comingsoonduring this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and reacted all about it.

I’ve known for the entire series I’ve been working on that the next Doctor was going to be a woman. I didn’t know that it would be Jodie. I didn’t know that until the Friday before the announcement. I didn’t want to know until Peter [Capaldi] knew. That was my rule.”

Having Whittaker as the first female doctor changes and influences those little girls who watch the show. While others have been slightly arguing about it, Moffat reveals that gender doesn’t mean anything.

“I thought that, if this is the last go-round for a long while of the Doctor being a man, I thought I should bring out all these manly qualities. There aren’t any! He doesn’t have any masculine qualities at all. It makes absolutely no difference. It’s a pronoun. This man/woman doesn’t have any masculine qualities and probably won’t have any feminine qualities, either. He’s an alien in the form of a human male, now an alien in the form of a human female and that’s it. The truth is– and Chris and I have been talking about this– is how long does it take for the Doctor to notice? Missy didn’t know! Time Lords don’t care about that kind of stuff!”

The Christmas Special will be called “Twice Upon a Time” and taking the end of the season 10 finale, it pairs Capaldi with the first Doctor in a story set during 1966’s “The Tenth Planet.” The episode marks the final regular appearance of leading man William Hartnell. Harnell passed away in 1975, so for the part David Bradley will be stepping in.

If you haven’t seen the Christmas Special tease, you can watch it down below!